I called Eevee back to me, and she sat on my shoulder with a smile. The whole guild came rushing down from the bleachers, crowding all of us and cheering. I became overwhelmed by the attention, and took a few steps back in defense. "Thank you everyone, thanks!"
Everyone was crowding Ash as well, and he looked like he was loving the attention. I stared at him in seriousness as he smiled with Pikachu in his arms. He answered everyone's questions without losing it.
"Ellie?" Lucy asked next to me. "What's the matter?" I looked up at her, and grinned widely.
"Nothing!" I told her. "Just feeling a bit like the champion, that's all."
"Ah, I get it." She blinked in understanding. "Well bear with it until we get back to the guild!"
"Sure, but..." I looked back at Ash. "I do need to wish Ash a good battle." I started to walk toward him, and he noticed me in wonder. Everyone backed away to watch us. I held out my hand. "I gotta say, Ash..." I smiled at him. "You really gave me the best battle I've ever had. Thank you for that."
He smiled then, chuckling. He took my hand with a strong grip. "You bet. It was the same for me too."
"Party at the guild to celebrate!" Natsu yelled. "Let's eat until we can't eat no more!" The guild agreed with a loud cheer.
I giggled, and waited until they all turned around to start back toward the guild hall. I lost my smile, and leaned forward to whisper into Ash's ear. He blushed from my sudden move. "We need to talk. All of us trainers. It's important."
"Guys!" Lucy called to us as the other trainers came down to us. I stood upright again to look at her. "You coming?"
I nodded. "Give us a few minutes! We have to talk about what happened in the battle as trainers."
Lucy lost her smile. "You sure you don't want us to wait for you?"
"Nah, we'll catch up! Don't worry, we'll be quick." She seemed a little hurt, but complied when Natsu called to her from outside. She turned and jogged out of the arena.
I sighed, closing my eyes. "Okay then...now that we're alone."
"What's wrong, Ellie?" Serena asked.
I kept my head lowered in sadness. "When you guys go home..." I started, feeling my heart burst with pain. "I have to come with you. And...Fairy Tail has to forget everything about us."
~~~
We came back to the guild with fake smiles on our faces. "Who's ready to party like a champion?!" I screamed as loud as I could. The whole guild exploded with cheers.
"Let's party till we drop dead!" Lucy yelled back.
"Time for me to get sooo wasted!" Cana held up her drink like it was something special.
"No drinking in front of the kids!" Papa yelled at her.
"Aww, come on Master." Cana already was gulping down her booze. "It's a cause for celebration!"
He sighed. "There's no stopping you, is there?" Cana just laughed out loud, as drunk as usual. I sighed myself.
"Well...have fun you guys. I gotta...talk to Natsu, okay?" I stared at him, my heart skipping a beat from his laughing smile.
"Yeah," Serena replied. "Let's go, guys." They proceeded to mingle with the guild members as I walked toward Natsu, feeling my chest explode with hurt.
"Natsu." I called to him softly even when there was so much noise around him. He immediately stopped smiling and moved his eyes to me. I kept my head lowered, and started walking away to one of the hallways around the back of the guild hall. He said something to everyone, and followed behind me at a distance.
I stopped when we finally were alone with only background noise. All he did was stare at me in confusion. "So? What's up?" He asked, his voice crushing my heart even more. Tears started to down my face, and I couldn't stop the sobs. Natsu let out a surprised breath. "Hey, what's wrong? Why are you crying?"
All I did was cover my face with my hands. "Everything that's happened... Arceus... Zeref... it's all my fault! None of this would have ever happened if I just stayed in the Pokémon world. All because I just wanted to be happy..."
"And what's wrong with that?" I felt a hand on my shoulder and uncovered my eyes to look at him. His grin made more tears fall. "You shouldn't feel guilty for wanting to have a better life. That's what Fairy Tail is for."
"But...so many got hurt. This whole world could have been..." I couldn't stop shaking from the pain.
"Hey." Natsu put his other hand on my other shoulder, squeezing both gently. "That doesn't matter. What matters is that we won, and that they're out there celebrating for you. You wouldn't have that emblem if that wasn't good enough for you. No one would. So enough with the waterworks."
What I did instead was tackle him into a hug. He grunted in shock.
The tears just kept falling. "Thank you, Natsu. For everything..." After that, he placed a hand on my back, and on my head. I sobbed more as he caressed me, but pushed away after a moment and wiped my eyes.
"Come on, let's see that smile we all know." It was hard to do, but I smiled widely for him. "Good. Now let's get back to your party, huh?" He turned back to the doorway, laying his arms behind his head as he walked out to the hall again.
But I didn't follow him. Instead, I summoned Eevee to my side in my mind, and hugged her in my arms as I rushed out the back door of the guild. I'm sorry, Natsu. I kept running back to the house. I'm sorry, Papa. I opened the door, quickly packing up everything into my bag as Eevee stayed quiet on the bed. I even took all of the clothes Lucy bought me. I'm sorry, Lucy. Everything barely fit, but I was able to close my bag and zip it up with ease. I'm sorry, Fairy Tail!
I had told the others to meet me at the edge of town, and Eevee would sneak back in to the guild to let them know when it was time without drawing attention. I sent her off, and sat down on my bed, my gloved hands on my lap. The pain was so unbearable. I literally felt numb from this decision. But it was the right thing to do, I knew that now.
And there was no coming back. Not ever again.
The tears welled up again when I thought this. Leaving Fairy Tail forever after being there for so long...it was like a knife was being stabbed right through my chest. I lifted my hand to it, shaking and holding back sobs.
That's when a knock on the door sounded and opened. "Ellie..." Serena said. "We're ready."
I nodded slowly, keeping my head down as Eevee hopped back onto my shoulder. "Are you sure...you don't want to say goodbye?" Ash asked as he saw how miserable I was.
I shook my head when I stood up. "It would be...too hard for me. And for them."
He let out a breath in sadness. "Okay. Let's go then."
I followed them as we walked out to the edge of the town. We didn't speak a word to each other, and didn't stop until we were at the edge of town. It was too quiet. I took a shaky breath after a minute of listening to the Magnolia wind. I pulled out Celebi's Pokéball, sending him out. He blinked at me in wonder.
"It's time, Celebi. Are you ready?" Celebi nodded without saying a word. He could feel my sadness, I could tell. I tried to keep on a brave face though. We both closed our eyes then.
Dialga, Palkia, we summon thee. We are in need of your power. Immediately the sky shimmered above us. A giant portal opened, and both Dragon types came floating down with a roar. We all stared and blinked as their forms radiated power within us. They both landed side by side with a boom in front of us outside of the town.
"Dialga and Palkia." stepped forward. "There's something I must ask of you both."
"And what's that?" I gasped and spun around with the others as I saw the whole guild coming up behind us. I stared at all of them in shock. Damn it! They weren't supposed to know!
"How did you know about this?" I asked.
"You didn't think we wouldn't notice you at your own party? I can't believe I listened to Serena when she told me you had a headache and just wanted some rest at home! It was confirmed when Natsu and Wendy sensed these two come into the world!" Lucy was livid with what we were doing. "How could you, Ellie?! How could you do this again?"
"Lucy." Papa shut her up. She looked at him with tears in her eyes. "That's enough." I let out a breath, everyone else just as surprised. He stepped forward, stopping right in front of me. I just stared at him as he stared back with a glare. "So...you've made your final decision. Is this what you really want?"
I lowered my eyes, hiding them under my bangs. "Yes."
Everyone gasped and started to yell at me in anger all round. I just clenched my fists, trying to block it out. "Silence!" Papa yelled. Everyone went quiet then. "Ellie. You know that we are your family, and that we would always protect you." I nodded. "However...I do believe your choice is the right one as well."
Everyone gasped even louder. "But, Master!"
"Are you saying she's okay to leave?"
"You can't say that!"
I noticed Natsu was clenching his fists as well. But he just stayed quiet through it all. That just made me even more scared of what he would say about this.
"I said, silence!" Makarov closed his eyes. "This is Ellie's choice! Not yours! I don't want to hear anymore about it!" Lucy just covered her face with her hands at that, tears falling through them. Natsu placed a hand on her back, but I still couldn't see his eyes under his spiky hair.
"Ellie..." Erza then spoke to me. "You're absolutely sure you want to go back? You know it's a one way trip."
"Yes. But...there's something else." The two legendaries growled softly behind us. The other trainers also were quiet. "Once we go back...you all will forget about us. And forget that Pokémon even exist in another world."
"W-What?" Wendy asked in a small voice as everyone else kept their eyes wide. "How will you do that?"
"Dialga and Celebi will send you back to when I first arrived here. Only...I never would have arrived at all. None of us would have."
Erza gasped softly. "So it would be like...you never existed to us."
Lucy sobbed louder, and Natsu grunted in anger. I couldn't stand seeing him like that, but I had no choice in the matter. This was the only way things would go back to the way they were, without any Pokémon threatening Fiore or being threatened themselves. I nodded again. "Yes. It would be."
"No..." Lucy sobbed. "Please don't do this Ellie! You're my best friend, and I love you!" She rushed forward, pulling me into a big hug. "You can't do this to us!"
"Lucy..." I hugged her back softly. "It's because I love you too that I have to do this. Know that I will always be with you in your heart. You and everyone else in Fairy Tail!" She just hugged me tighter as the tears finally came back again to fall down my face. She pushed away and stepped back to stand next to Natsu again.
"In that case..." Erza then said. She went on to use her magic, and requipped into an armor I hadn't seen before. In her right hand she held a giant flag that blew with the wind. On it was a black Fairy Tail emblem that stood out strongly.
I blinked in confusion until she started to recite. "If you wish to leave this guild, then you must abide by these three rules: Number 1! You should never share any sensitive information about Fairy Tail for as long as you live!" My eyes started to shimmer as I listened to her speak. I heard a sniffle as Serena started to cry from her words.
Gray spoke next. "Number 2. You must never contact past clients you may have worked for while in the guild for your own personal gain."
"Number 3!" My chest exploded from his voice, and I could barely keep myself standing from him yelling the last rule at us. "Although our paths may stray, promise to live the rest of your life to the fullest! That means to treat everyday like it was your last in the world!" Natsu's words were unbearable.
But hearing the last person speak made me lose it. "And never forget..." Lucy started while sobbing in between. "Your Fairy Tail friends that you loved. You must treasure them for as long as you live!"
Makarov then lifted his hand, making the sign of Fairy Tail. "We wish you the best lives from now on! You will always be with us, as we will be with you!" Everyone else held up the sign, and I fell to the ground on my knees, crying the worst I ever had.
"I love you all so much!" I yelled out. "Fairy Tail will always be our true family!" Every Eeveelution came out fo their balls, and I felt all of our emblems glow as one. They all cried in agreement and sadness, Eevee doing the same on my shoulder. "WE'LL NEVER FORGET ANY OF YOU!!"
Do it now! Dialga and Celebi both exploded with power, and Palkia surrounded us with a pink dimension bubble. The guild members disappeared, moving through time back to the past. I watched through my tears as Magnolia turned night and day as it travelled back over a year ago. Everything slowed down as it got closer, and stopped. Palkia let us have one last look at the landscape, and I noticed the familiar festival in the town that started it all for me and Fairy Tail.
I looked up at Palkia then, giving her the signal. She took us back through a portal to the world of Pokémon where we truly belonged.
And for a split second right before going through, I swore I saw a tiny fairy fly past my vision.